In order to better understand the present invention, reference is made below to the technological milestones which have marked the development of ornamental fountains. Each successive stylistic step has been the consequence of the historical, technical and artistic context of its period. The fact that water jets and lighting elements depend on a suitable, constant source of energy has characterized the stylistic advance of ornamental fountains as very sensitive to the technical factors present during each period.
For this reason, until the development of electrical power sources at the end of the last century, ornamental fountains could simply be defined as fixed aquatic architecture, purely sculptural, and lacking their own lighting. Most of the time, water represented a mere accompaniment to the main motif of the fountain or sculptural group because the flow, which depended exclusively on pressures caused by natural differences in water levels, was scarce or intermittent. Consequently, the style of fountains during this period was linked to architecture or gardening, with a predominance of classical or baroque forms based on geometrical symmetries and repetitions.
The subsequent development of the electrical motor pump and the submersible water projector device provided autonomy to ornamental fountains. Water alone thus became capable of constituting the main motif of the fountain, observable both day and night. The possibilities of expression continued to be limited, however, by aquatic architecture which was fixed during this period, since technologically, it was not possible to vary the flows of the fountain. For this reason the creative efforts of those in the field was oriented toward the search for new water forms and different compositions. The style remained based on the classic geometry of symmetrical composition, since all the aquatic elements presented themselves simultaneously.
Thereafter, the related technology developed further and made it possible to incorporate systems utilizing the technique of sequential flow variation. As a result, the current state of the art, which could be called an electromechanical fountain, then appeared. Various devices were installed in these fountains, such as variable speed motors, motor-operated valves, mechanical programmers for sequential cutoff of the hydraulic circuits, etc.
A series of common characteristics governs these electromechanical ornamental fountains. For instance, it is possible to make various groups of aquatic elements appear or disappear. The fountain thus has various circuits that "play" with one another, forming various combinations which present themselves sequentially during a "period". The fountain can incorporate a program which, for example, is synchronized to a specific musical piece, as is the case in some recently developed fountains of which the inventors are aware.
Certain limitations must still be overcome, however. For example, the valves for varying the liquid flow in these prior art fountains are located in a fountain machine room. For reasons of cost, they cannot be extended to each individual water jet, but rather they extend to cut off circuits that group a number of jets. These cut off circuits channel large flows of water and are not numerous. This arrangement leads to the following consequences: firstly, since the jets appear or disappear in groups, it is not possible to create a fountain without a symmetry in the composition, so that the style of the fountain retains its classic character.
Secondly, the flows brought into pay require large cutoff periods to avoid problems associated with the water hammer effect and vibrations, which may result in drawn out responses, caused by the inertias of these circuits. This characteristic, together with the limited number of available independent circuits, permits little flexibility in programming because the response times are generally not compatible with other elements of a noninertial nature, i.e., lighting, music, laser beams, etc., which ordinarily are incorporated in modern fountains.
In summary, therefore, today's state-of-the-art electromechanical fountain is installed as a group of independent circuits, each made up of different jets, for which reason they adopt a geometric composition of classical style. When plays of water are incorporated, the time necessary for a response to changes in water pressure is unnecessarily long, while the possibility of obtaining different water jet combinations is small, since the number of independent circuits that comes into play rarely exceeds ten.
As an illustration of the deficiencies found in present state-of-the-art fountains, FIGS. 1 a-h show various flow combinations attainable with prior art electromechanical fountains. In the embodiment disclosed in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the fountain contains four independent circuits which can appear and disappear individually in the course of the program or sequence of plays of the fountain. These circuits are represented separately in four views: FIG. 1a illustrates a central vertical jet. Surrounding this central jet is a "palm tree" formed of eight parabolic jets as shown in FIG. 1b. Further, outside this "palm tree" is a crown of twenty four vertical jets as shown in FIG. 1c. FIG. 1d illustrates a cupola formed by twenty-four parabolic jets that flow from the periphery to the interior of the fountain.
In total, therefore, the illustrated example utilizes fifty seven jets, grouped in four circuits. The jets corresponding to each circuit are activated simultaneously, for which reason each circuit is arranged in a symmetrical manner around the main axis of the fountain. Obviously, deviating from this symmetry would negatively affect the aesthetic appeal of the fountain.
Some of the possible combinations that may be obtained by grouping the circuits in FIGS. 1 a-d are shown in FIGS. 1 e-h. It will be seen immediately that the number of these combinations is very limited. Specifically, with four circuits it is not possible to establish more than fifteen different combinations, which is determinable by the number of combinations that can be made with four elements taken in groups of one, two, three or four elements respectively.
In summary, therefore, due to the inertia factor, which prevents obtaining a rapid rhythm in the sequence of the plays and in synchronization with noninertial elements, current fountain architecture is restricted to some neoclassic rules of symmetry and very few possible combinations.